“It’s a deal-breaker. I’m sorry.” I try to stave off the tears as I lug my bags to the door. As the door slams shut behind me, it rips my heart in two. Tears stripe my face as I drive away.

It looks like I’ll be doing this on my own.

CHAPTER ONE

SOPHIE

“I feel terrible about this, babe,” I apologise to April as we move the last of my bags up the stairs to hers and Jones’s apartment.

“Shut the hell up, Soph. That’s what friends are for. I’m sorry but the foldout sofa bed is all I can offer you. The spare room is filled with Spencer’s bike crap and my albums.”

“I promise I just need a few weeks. Enough to save up a rental bond and find a bedsit or a one-beddie somewhere.”

I hate the idea of encroaching. Her and Spencer work so hard and travel a lot, and from the long chats I’ve had with April of late, they make up for the time apart when they get home. I don’t want to spoil that for her by being here, invading their personal space. I also don’t need to hear the grunts and groans … from either of them.

“However long you need, Soph. You’ve always been there for me, so as long as you can stand sleeping on it it’s yours.” She nods in the direction of the made-up bed. The black suede lounge is already folded out, and the mattress on top looks relatively plush. I’ve slept in worse places. “I’m looking forward to having my bestie back, anyhow. Having you to help me gang up on pretty boy is an added bonus.”

“Ha ha, I’ve got your back, babe.” I poke out my tongue at her. Although I admit once upon a time I wanted to remove Jones’s balls, I kinda don’t mind the slightly domesticated version of him that I see now. He’s good to my girl, and because of that I have a lot more time for him these days.

We move into the kitchen, and April pours us each a glass of red. I take a long swig, and savour the bold Shiraz as it swirls around my tastebuds.

She lets out a heavy sigh. “We’ll have to get Vicky over here one night and talk about the wedding. You know I couldn’t care less about table settings and placards and stuff, but she’s been at me for weeks.”

Jones’s sister, Vicky, as sweet as she is, is like a tiny Jack Russell puppy on acid. Mention the word ‘wedding’ and the squeals, and the unhuman sounds that come from her mouth I guarantee are summoning pets in the surrounding suburbs. Just think Snow White but with blonde hair, surrounded by a bunch of meowing stray cats.

“Can I ply her with alcohol before we mention bridesmaids’ dresses?”

April throws her head back and laughs. “Yeah, okay. I know she got a bit out of control the last time we talked about wedding stuff, but I haven’t got the heart to tell her to calm the hell down. She’s just excited, you know?”

“Yeah, I know she’s harmless, I just don’t need happy incarnate in my face. I don’t wanna hurt the girl, and right now I don’t think it’d take much to push me.”

My heart is still raw from breaking it off with Bonnie. The last week had been awful, packing my stuff into boxes and dividing up things that we’d bought together. I didn’t want any of it. None of it was going to help me get any closer to where I need to be. Truth be told, living in a share house before moving in with Bonnie meant I didn’t bring much in the way of white goods and furniture to our house, and thanks to still paying off the debt that Prince Fuckface left me, I didn’t have much else. Pretty much just my wardrobe.

“Just give it time, and you’ll be fine. You never know—maybe we should finally take her up on that invite to go with her to karaoke.”

Is she fucking serious? Sophie McKenna does not sing, and she does certainly not sing some rendition of a Taylor Swift song for shits and fucking giggles. I would rather die.

“Over my dead body,” I say and gulp down the last few mouthfuls of delicious wine. I can already feel the warm tingles at my cheeks.

“What if I promised to ply you with alcohol?”

My ears prick up. “Are we talking enough booze to affect my hearing?”

“Possibly.”

“Then maybe, just maybe, I might go.” But just to watch.

“Will you at least have a shot at singing? If I have to get up there with her, then you do to.”

“Babe, you get me up on that stage, and the only thing that will happen is me tackling you bitches to the ground.”

April laughs and tops up my glass. “Okay, I got ya. As far as our friendship is concerned, karaoke is a hard limit.”

“I’m glad we have an understanding.”

We cheers glasses, and I thank the universe that I have a friend like April.

CHAPTER TWO

ROCCO

A month later

“Do you wanna drop into mine for a beer?” Jones offers as we turn off the highway, that much closer to home. I rub at my eyes, irritated from watching the stream of car’s lights for the last few hours.

“Yeah. I fuckin’ need one.” This round was so much more demanding with the bikes. Fucking Billy was devastated with his tumble today, and unfortunately for him his bike is in bad shape. I’ve got my work cut out for me over the next week. It’ll probably mean a whole re-build.

Once in Jones’s apartment, quietly as I was asked in the stairwell, we wander into the dark kitchen. Jones flicks on the light and we crack open a couple of cold ones.

I take a long pull of my beer, closing my eyes as the welcome taste fills my mouth. Just what I needed. Now I could go the rest of the case. I walk from the room, focusing on the stream of light highlighting a long bare leg wrangled with white sheets on the sofa bed. A tangle of long blonde hair is splayed across the pillow.

“Who the fuck is that?” I whisper-yell¸ as I jerk on his arm.

“Soph,” he informs me.

Ah. Suds. As if I could forget her. “Ah, Soph.”

“So you remember her?”

“How could I forget? She wanted to cut my nutsack off within two minutes of meeting me.”

“Well, she’s a little fragile right now, so best you steer clear. You may not get the benefit of two minutes next time.”

“Fragile?”

He ushers me back into the kitchen.

“Broke up with the girlfriend,” he says, with an eyebrow raise.

“Right.”

Lesbian on the re-bound. Hell to the yes.

“I’d wipe that fucking cocky smirk off your face if I were you.”

“What?” I say, with a shrug.

“You don’t have a chance.”

“There’s every chance.” I grab my dick through my jeans and squeeze tight. “There’s a hefty package right here that I’d say increases my chances considerably.”

“It’s not just her that’s gonna threaten your physical safety either—” Jones informs me, before he’s cut off.

“True story,” a bleary-eyed April grumbles, as she walks zombie-like into Jones’s arms. “Hey, pretty boy,” she says into his shirt. Her golden, tangled locks fall back and brush her lower back as she looks up at him and smooches his lips.

“Hey, beautiful,” he whispers, as his hands wander down her back and squeeze the curves of her arse, which are covered by the silky material of her clingy black nighty.

“Ooh, missed me, huh?” she says, leaning into his body.

Get a fucking room. These two can never keep their hands off each other. Jones has turned into a lovesick schoolboy. Sickening really.

I scull down the rest of my beer, taking large gulps until the froth meets my lips. “I’ll leave you two lovebirds to it.”

“Good weekend,” Jones says, pulling his gaze from April.

“Yeah. Fuckin’ ripper. I’ll see you in the workshop tomorrow?”

“Yeah, I’ll be in after lunch for the team meeting. As if Mac didn’t see enough of our sorry arses over the weekend.”

April slaps his chest. “Hey, be nice.”

I grunt goodbye and head for the door. Unable to resist, I take another look at the sofa bed on my way out. She’s lying on her back now, hands above her head, the sheet bunched low at her waist. Her purple tank top is hugging a pair of full, knockout tits, and she’s high beaming, too. Well, hello there, girls.